Posted on 10/01/2010 6:39:34 AM PDT by MNDude
Twenty light years (120 trillion miles) isn't exactly in the hood. If, by chance, a civilization has arisen on the planet which is so advanced that they have figured out how to travel at the speed of light, they could get here in 20 years. (What if they left 19 years and 11 months ago? Aiiiiieeee!)
My theory, however, is that they're no more scientifically advanced than the Amish. If they come by horse buggy at 3 mph, I calculate that it will take 4.6 billion years.
If the planet crosses in front of the star (from our perspective) perhaps we can obtain a chemical spectrum of its atmosphere and determine if certain life-indicating molecules are present in the atmosphere. There are various molecules thought to exist in large numbers only if living organisms are continually replenishing them.
He didn't say human life, he just said life. He could be speaking of nothing more advanced than microbial mats.
I’ll settle for Caribou Coffee on extraterrestrial planets.
Ah, this Santa Cruz guy needs to lay off the bong. Too many hits have affected his brain. Yes, I know, he FEELS that there is life there. Menawhile we abort little human beings ... . I suggest we look out for HUMAN LIFE on earth.
Any comments on the atmosphere there?
Temperature? Wind? Light? Darkness? Water?
Nah, just his FEELINGS.
I suggest we send him there and see how he fares.
Good chance for Obama to announce we are going to send men there and return them to earth before the next decade is out.
I'll take the Anna Kournikova planet, please.
Let’s take it over and outlaw liberals.
Dude, this is Obama. He'll send them there; screw them on coming back.
I’m hoping it’s either the planet of Women with Eyeballs on Their Breasts or maybe the planet of Women with Mattresses On their Backs......
Somebody is looking for more funding......
What would Dunecat do to Muad’dib (literally, ‘little mouse’)?
Amish Built Space Shuttle Now Under Construction
2009_03_Bowing to pressure by Creationists who have increasingly been calling much of science to be wishy-washy theory invented by atheists without basis in religious belief, NASA has commissioned the Amish to build the next space shuttle. At this time, Amish carpenters are wielding hand saws, hammers and hand-driven drills to craft a huge oak-clad space ship destined for the climes of outer space.
Meanwhile, a creationist-based flight school based at Bob Jones University is preparing a crew to navigate the wood structured shuttle with “intelligent navigation,” based on bible texts and inspirational hymns. Given the Amish prohibition against using electricity, the flight crew will operate the shuttle with ropes and pulleys, illuminated by candles.
Despite some measure of skepticism by the traditional hard science –oriented NASA administrators, one of the engineers, who goes by the name Moondog Aquarius, claims he hasn’t been as excited about space travel since his former days as a Malibu surfer, when he traveled up and down southern California beaches in his now classic 1940s wood-sided Mercury station wagon. “Hey man,” he exclaims, “ those Amish are so retro - building a woodie to shoot into space – that’s totally scape!”
Or Obama could use this as an excuse to BAIL OUT the ALIENS!
It would be another HUGE waste of money where the government workers could benefit and accomplish nothing.
We're barely able to do this now. The next generation of space telescopes will be much more capable in this regard.
There are various molecules thought to exist in large numbers only if living organisms are continually replenishing them.
Specifically, free oxygen (O2). It's so reactive that it would it wouldn't exist in the Earth's atmosphere (having been bound up in various chemical reactions) unless it was continually replenished by life on Earth.
“Personally, given the ubiquity and propensity of water to exist wherever it can, I would say, my own personal feeling is that the chances of water on this planet are 100 percent,” said The Goldfish....
And from the article, other factors that work against life:
1.) The planet is around a RED GIANT star. So for about 4 - 8 billion years, this planet actually was in an "uninhabitable" zone when the star was much smaller.
2.) Red dwarf stars are about 50 times dimmer than our sun.. photosynthesis anyone?
3.) Gliese 581g has a mass three to four times Earth's, the researchers estimated. From the mass and size, they said the world is probably a rocky planet with enough gravity to hold onto an atmosphere.... Ya probaly too much gravity so the atmosphere would be very dense. Too much gravity for life
4.) Just as Mercury is locked facing the sun, the planet is tidally locked to its star.. Tides are use for more than surfing...
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